Accounts Payable Automation in the Cloud

Accounts Payable (AP) has always been a crucial part of business, but as accounting becomes more and more complex or as it increases in volume, we are forced to upgrade our hardware and software. These issues can be easily solved when using an AP solution in the cloud.

What is AP Automation in the Cloud?

AP Automation in the cloud provides AP solutions that are hosted on the Internet. The solution can be combined with an on-premise EBS system or a cloud EBS system. When using an on-premise EBS system, you can create a Site-to Site VPN connection to your internal EBS system. This allows for your EBS system to remain in-house while your AP solution resides in the cloud.

Benefits of AP Automation in the Cloud

There are many benefits to providing your accounts payable solution in the cloud and for cloud solutions in general, including reduced support and maintenance costs and increased speed of upgrade deployments.

No hardware to purchase or maintain. By having your AP solution in the cloud, you do not have to provision hardware for the solution. Additionally, as your needs grow, you will not have to purchase additional hardware to support the extra load.

No need to perform software upgrades. Since it is hosted in the cloud, the provider will be responsible for implementing any updates at an OS level or application level. This also allows you to have the latest version running much sooner than having to go through weeks of testing before performing an upgrade.

No need to support the OS. Since the hardware is hosted, you are not responsible for the OS on the hardware. This eliminates the need to have an OS expert to support your AP Solution hardware.

No need to support security patches at an OS or application level. All security related patches are supported by the hosting partner.

Areas of Concern

There are also some areas of concern in using AP Automation in the Cloud.

Is my data safe in the cloud? Of course! Just because it is in the cloud doesn’t mean anyone can log in and access your data. AP Solutions offer many layers of security to ensure your data is protected at all times.

Will my data be backed up? Yes! Most cloud solutions offer multiple levels of backup and redundancies including offsite backups.

Regardless of the benefits or areas of concern, AP Automation in the Cloud is slowly becoming the future of AP systems. As more solutions are available in the Cloud, companies will become more comfortable with the architecture in general and will trust moving their own AP Systems to the Cloud as well.